an old prayer well suited for these 40 days of Lent

This life therefore is not righteous
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be
but we are growing towards it,
the process is not yet finished
but it is going on,
this is not the end but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory
but all is being purified.
–Martin Luther